The act of burning down rolls of Rs 30 lakh worth of newsprint besides other press materials in Manipur's Kangpokpi by armed Kuki militants is the failure of state’s responsibility towards safeguarding public property and trouble-free passage of essential items in the highways of Manipur. It has become a habit for the state, both state and central government, to run away from its responsibilities as well as its bounden duty to ensure safe highways.
Many a times, regular traffic on the national highways have come to a grinding halt either due to blockades on various demands and every time, the state has failed in its mandate. Even though matters of law and order and security issues have been entrusted to the Security Advisor and DGP, the chief minister who is in charge of Home department cannot side-step the issue. He had tried to explain that, the personnel of two IRB battalions recruited specially for the purpose of providing highway security are under training in Assam and unavailable for now.
The recruitment of 10th and 11th IRB personnel was conducted before the BJP led government during the Congress regime, but the results were announced only during the second term of Chief Minister N Biren Singh with all its controversies. Well, these two battalions were supposed to be dedicated forces for highway protection. But the State still has enough forces under its command to ensure a safe highway. Only thing lacking was the political will to perform its bounden duty. The trickle-down effect of State’s lack of political will had its influence on the security forces also who are somehow reluctant to enforce the rule of law and safety on the highways. And thus, the general public suffers while public properties are reduced to ashes.
The current blockade on the national highways is by Kuki CSOs, as an act of defiance to state authority and a demand for separate administration. Some time back, suspected Kuki militants have physically cut off the Imphal-Dimapur highway NH 2 by exploding powerful bombs on a vital bridge between Saparmeina and Koubru Leikha. Movement of oil and LPG tankers besides goods carrying trucks began resuming services which was stopped following the attack on a convoy of oil tankers and LPG bullets besides fully loaded tricks in Imphal-Jiribam highway NH 37 by Kuki militants near Kaimai.
The main grievance of the truckers was that paramilitary forces escorting the convoy of essential commodities fled from the scene instead of confronting the attackers. They have so many other grievances and given the fact that they are ferrying petroleum products and goods in public interest keeping aside their own personal safety they should be given proper protection. The state government after taking into consideration several factors worked out a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which led to the agreement.
Imphal-Dimapur road (NH 2) and Imphal-Jiribam road (NH 37) have always been a rallying point for politics by certain communities doting these national highways and a pressure point for raising of all kinds of demands and grievances. Well, even as the courts had termed the blocking of traffic on highways as illegal different groups continue to impose different kinds of bandhs and blockades including economic blockades and the state government is rather bent on politically dealing with such bandhs and blockades.
But, causing extensive damage to highways and bridges by exploding bombs was not a simple matter of law and order or the work of wayward miscreants. It is an ‘act of war’ aimed at perceived ‘enemies’ by those involved in such acts. And this is not the first incident since the outbreak of ethnic clashes in the state. The vital bridge at Kwakta in Bishnupur bridge on Tiddim Road was blasted by a bomb fitted in a vehicle on June 21 last year in which three persons were severely injured. The case was taken up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and investigations led to the arrest of a Kuki militant leader and a few Muslim collaborators.
